Eurocup. BC Khimki vs. Beşiktaş 3 december 2014

By tradition, in the ending our team made problems for itself but deserved to solve them in proper time. This time Eurocup top scorer Chris Lofton did his best but BC Khimki came over and defeated Besiktas Integral Forex Istanbul — 82-78 (20-13, 22-15, 18-15, 22-35) with the required points' difference and climbed into the first group D place. Now on Sunday, December 7, 2014 BC Khimki at home will face BC Kalev. The beginning is at 17.00 msk.

BC Khimki: Popovic (14 + 7 assists + 2 rebounds + 2 steals), Koponen (12), Lauvergne (11 + 3 blocks + 2 steals), Monya (9 + 7 rebounds + 3 assists + 2 steals), Honeycutt (8 + 10 rebounds), Vyaltsev (6 + 4 assists + 2 steals), Rice (6 + 4 assists + 2 rebounds), Ilnitsky (6), Davis (4 + 3 rebounds), Augustine (4 + 2 rebounds + 2 steals), Sheleketo (2 + 4 rebounds + 2 assists)

POST-GAME QUOTES

Ahmet Kandemir, Besiktas Integral Forex Istanbul head coach:

"First of all, we knew that it would be very tough game and we were fit for it. All our strategy was about our defensive transition and we tried avoiding their unexpected shots. We were also planning to cut the points of their fastbreak offense, but we couldn't do any of these things in the first half; we were shooting the ball in a rush and out of control and gave up on the offensive rebounds. We knew that Khimki was not executing well its five-on-five offense. Overall they were trying to bring us into their game and we were also trying to do the same from our side. We came here to win the game but our mistakes in the first half made a big difference in the score. It's not easy to catch up coming from this much of a point difference. So I congratulate Khimki on this win."

Chris Lofton, Besiktas Integral Forex Istanbul guard:

"Khimki's team was aggressive from the start. In the first half we couldn't get together. We tried to make a late run but it was too late for us. It was a bad game for me, offensively and defensively. The opponent did a great job on me defensively and made me turn the ball over. But we have to put this game behind and learn from it to move on. Our aim is to win the Eurocup and we'll work for this goal. I also liked Khimki's gym and the atmosphere at the game."

Rimas Kurtinaitis, BC Khimki head coach:

"I'm happy for the result as we won by more points that we lost in Turkey. But we played the end of the game in the improper style, which upset me a lot. We fought well, played defense, but in the Eurocup we can't show a lack of determination as we did in the fourth quarter, when our opponent scored 35 points. This is the problem of our team, the problem of realizing that we can't play equally the first five minutes and the last five ones. We try to do it, but things are right where they started. Our aim is to score first place in the group and we'll try to do it. I've got to give credit to Chris Lofton, the Eurocup top scorer, as we couldn't allow him to feel his rhythm and score so much baskets. During 38 minutes we defended against him well but at last two minutes he did what he usually did during all the games."

Joffrey Lauvergne, BC Khimki center:

"I think today we played well. Our opponent got back at the end with many tough shots. We could have played better defense, but Lofton is a crazy shooter. Now we've got the first spot in the group and we are happy about it. We have two more games in the Eurocup Regular Season and we have to win them as our aim is first place in the group. We want to improve because it's important to play well every game."